Fading
by lady-warrioress
Summary: Energon Timeline: Starscream begins to regain his memories about his past life and a very special young woman.
1. Chapter 1

_A sky filled with stars, a planet torn by war. Orbiting above a moon. No, not a moon, something else, an oval machine with horns._

 _A creature a threat, hiding in that form, waiting for a chance to consume everything._

 _A monster, a large mechanical monster._

 _Energy, a pink stream of energy shooting upward into the sky._

 _A large bolt of super powered energy shooting downward and hitting its target_

 _Screaming. pain. The end of existence._

 _A face. The face of a young woman with brown hair and green eyes. Tears rolling down her pale cheeks._

 _A necklace housing a cracked green stone. Shattering._

 _"Starscream..."_

"Starscream!"

Starscream jerked out of recharge as Megatron's commanding voice resonated in his head. His optics lit up green and he sat up, placing his hand to the side of his head to activate his com-link. "Sir?"

"Starscream, get down to the space bridge right now," the Decepticon leader barked into his audio unit.

His one said he needed to obey the order right away which he would have done anyway, due to something thta had happened in the past that rendered his freewill basically nill. "Yes sir." the jet jumped up off the recharge bed and rushed to obey his master.

Within minutes he joined his fellow decepticon soldiers , save Megatron who was staying behind, at the space bridge.

"What took you so long?" Demolisher one of the other Decepticons, called out to him as the jet transformer quietly entered the room.

"He was probably catching up on his beauty sleep," Cyclonus remarked before laughing madly.

Starscream made no retort to the teasing, simply asking in a businesslike tone. "What is our mission?"

"Go to Ocean City," Tidal Wave spoke up before Cyclonus could make some kind of snarky statement. "Get energon."

The mention of Ocean City made Demolisher's face twitch which Starscream noticed but made no remark about it. He already knew about Demolisher's history with the human city. It made no sense to the other Decepticon but he didn't judge him. Some thing were better left alone.

Starscream nodded, heading toward, ready to begin the mission without any further questions. The orders were simple and this mission would be even simpler. It was time to get moving.

* * *

Down on earth the decpticons began their attack on the human city, going for the defenses first and then taking out whoever came to stop them. It was all very normal rather dull. Starscream wondered to himself where Optimus Prime was hiding and when he would be joining the battle.

"Hey, Starscream!'"The Decepticon turned, noticing the Autobot Hot Shot aiming his weapon at him. "Bet you can't dodge this!"

The Decepticon reacted without a word, fazing in and out of reality when fired upon. He materialized in front of the Autobot and sliced across his chest plate with his sword. The other robot grunted in pain, stumbling backward, his hand resting on the damage that sparked and bled purple fluid.

He didn't stick around afterward and flew off before anyone could come to help their comrade.  
"You're not getting away that easily, Starscream!" a voice shouted.

He turned his head spotting the large transformer Jetfire coming toward him. He turned to face the autobot, readying his sword for a blow.

The larger robot crashed into him with enough force to send him flying backward into a tower behind him. His heaqd crached into a large piece of eletrical equiptment that sent static through his vision as well as a shocking pain in his processor.

He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to focus on his opponent who was trying to pin him down. he put his feet under the other robot and kicked into his chestplate, hard enough to dent it.

Jetfire grunted by the blow but didn't react much more than that. He was much bigger than the smaller aireal transformer and stronger. "Give up, starscream," he said. "Because you're not going to get away this time."

Stascream probably would have but whatever come back he might have given was cut off by the sound of hysterical laughter and then piles upon piles of firepower raining down on both of them.

"What the-" Jetfire turned, annoyed at the interruption. He spotted Cyclonus hovering behind him, still firing all of his weapons at the big Autobot.

Starscream took advantage of the Autobot's distraction and hit him ahrd with both feet, knocking him off of him this time.

Jetfire fell back as the Decepticon jet quickly got up and attacked him, slicing the giant autobot with his sword. The bigger flying ytransformer, startled by this fell out of the hole in the tower wall and out of view.

Starscream was about to follow when he heard a large explosion. Turning he saw Demolisher, heavily damamged and running, calling to him.

"Stand down! It's over!"

The Decepticon paused, looking at his comrade. He was in a hurry obviously needing repairs. Starscream was frustrated about the fight being interrupted. Even so he knew he would have to follow the order without question. Something told him an event he hadn't taken place in had turned the tide of their attack and it would be pointless to continue fighting.

"Come on, Starscream!" Demolisher called to him once more, his voice holding no small amount of urgency. "it's time to retreat."

He started to turn to follow the order when suddenly he caught a glimpse of a figure standing below on the balcony of one of the communication buidings. He suddenly froze, his eyes widening as an image burst into his mind. A girl with shoulder length brown hair and large green eyes. The perosn below him looked exactly like the image.

"Starscream!" a voice called out to him, breaking him out of his shocked state. He turned to Demolisher. "What are you doing? Come on!"

He nodded and turned to go, glancing once more at the figure below before flying after the other retreating Decepticons.

 _A/N_

 _This story is basedon a dream I had a long time ago as well as a very old Youtube music video._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Alexis had come to Ocean City to get an update on how things were going from Optimus when the Decepticons had attacked it. She'd made a run for the main building when the fighting had started but hadn't reached the place in time. A stray piece of friendly fire had hit the pavement in front of her and been broken up, blocking her way. When she had tried to get around it she had heard someone yell out. "Starscream!"

The name being uttered had startled her, since she knew better than anyone that the robot named Starscream was dead. She'd turned her head upward, and had, much to her surprise and confusion, spotted the jet transformer in the sky. As she'd stood there, staring in shock the being that had been addressed as Starscream had turned and froze when his optics locked onto her. Then the two had stood imobile for a moment, staring, before he'd turned away and vanished.

Once the Decepticon was gone she had continued to stand there in disbelief at what she'd just seen until Hotshot had rushed over to her to make sure she was all right.

"I'm fine," she told him, though she looked shaken.

"All right," he said. "But let's get you out of here. The battle made the roads a little unstable and I don't want you getting hurt."

The woman nodded. "Yes, get me out of here," she said.

Hotshot went into vehicle mode and she climbed inside. As he drove away from the mangled part of the city, she asked. "Where is Optimus?"

"Why?"

"I need to talk to him," she responded. "Please take me to him."

"Okay," he agreed changing direction. "He's in the main building."

"Then I want to go there," she said. "There's something I need to talk to him about."

It was no longer about getting an update on things, that wasn't important anymore. That had actually completely left her mind. She had a much more important subject she was going to talk to him about.

Starscream.

* * *

Optimus Prime was in the main building talking to Kicker's father when Hotshot entered with Alexis. When the woman got out of the car and Prime spotted her he greeted her with. "Alexis, it's nice to see you-"

Alexis wasn't there for formalities. 'why didn't you tell me?" she cut him off.

The autobot looked at her in confusion. "Tell you what?"

"Why didn't you tell me about Starscream?" she demanded. 'You knew he was alive but you failed to mention this to me."

Hotshot shot his leader a look. Optimus stared at the frustrated woman staring up at him with a look of anger mixed with disappointment. He took a moment to come up with an answer that would satisfy her. He knew Alexis and Starscream had shared a special relationship in the past and she'd been the most broken up when he'd died.

"I.." he paused a moment. "I just didn't want you to get hurt."

"How would telling me Starscream was alive hurt me?!"

"Because he doesn't remember any of us," Hotshot spoke up. "Megatron wiped his mind. "

"I knew that if you found out you would try to talk to him," Optimus finally added. "He would not recognize you if you did..."

Alexis folded her arms. "You don't know that, Optimus."

"Alexis," Optimus said slowly. "Like Hotshot said. Megatron used his new found power to completely wipe Starscream's memory clean of any of his past. He's not the same Starscream anymore. If you had tried to talk to him he would have hurt you. I know you're having a hard time believing that, but it's true."

Alexis was having a hard time believing it but she didn't tell him that. She kept her focus on demanding answers. "Whether that's true or not you still should have told me," she shot back, testily. "Starscream was my friend and I have a right to know things when it concerns him."

"I know that, Alexis," Optimus told her. "and I'm sorry for not telling you, but-"

"There is no but!" she cut him off. "I don't know where you got the idea that you know what's best for me but you need to just stop that kind of thinking. If you keep doing things like that I won't be able to trust you anymore." she paused a moment before continuing. "Actually this incident makes me question everything I know about you. "

"Alexis."

The woman turned away from him. "No, Optimus" she said. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. In fact I don't think I even want to be here anymore." she started for the door without another word.

Once she was gone Hotshot looked at his leader. "I think she means it, Prime."

Optimus didn't argue. He was sure she did. With that thought came another one. Now that she knew about Starscream she just might do exactly what he'd been worried about. He would have to have someone keep an eye on her.

* * *

Megatron stood before the other Decepticons who had returned defeated from their battle on Earth and began to chew them out for their incompetence.

"How are we ever going to accomplish our goal if you keep failing?" he snapped at them, pacing in front of the soldiers. "This continued incompetence has to stop!"

While he continued to rant Starscream's mind had begun to wander. It kept returning to the woman he'd spotted back in Ocean City. Something about that woman had seemed familiar but he was having a very hard time figuring out why.

"Starscream!"

Starscream was jerked out of his thoughts when he realized his superior was looking at him. "Sir?" he said.

Megatron frowned at him. "Are you listening to me?"

Starscream wasn't about to admit he hadn't so he simply said. 'Yes, sir."

The other Decepticon's face gave off the impression that he had a hard time believing that but, instead of chewing him out for it he simply said. "Eyes on me, soldier this is very important."

"Yes, sir." he said in a softer voice.

Megatron, satisfied with that, continued his tirade and as he did so starscream's mind once more returned to the woman. I've never seen that woman before in my life so why does she seem so familiar? There's just something about her, like I should know who she i she-"

"Starscream!"

He looked back at Megatron who had his arms folded. "Something on your mind?" he growled. "Because it's obvious you haven't been paying attention to anything I've said so why don't you just share it with the rest of us?"

Uh oh. He was in trouble. Something told him if he did let everyone know what he was thinking he'd only make the situation worse. Thinking quickly he began to speak.

"Well, sir, I was just thinking that maybe the reason we failed in our mission was because we didn't come prepared. The Autobots seem to have more power than we what with their ability to Power Link with one another and use the Energon Stars," he explained quickly. "If we could think up a way to prevent either of these things from happening then-"

"Then we could crush them into dust," Megatron finished for him, thoughtfully. "Yes, that is the biggest problem here. You are right, Starscream, we really should come up with a better plan of attack, to ensure they cannot take that course of actions."

Starscream felt relieved. His answer had satisfied his master. he had just avoided a harsh punishment with his quick thinking.

Megatron dismissed the decepticons then, allowing the trio to exist the throne room so he could plan his next move against the Autobots.

Once they were out of the room Demolisher stopped Starscream in the hall to talk to him. He'd noticed the look on the jet transformer's face inside the room and had easily figured out he had not been thinking about the battle at all, well not for the same reason's he'd mentioned to Megatron anyway. Something else had been on his mind.

"Be honest, Starscream," he said. "Nothing you said in there to Megatron had anything to do with why you were so quiet. Your mind was on something else completely, wasn't it?"

Starscream looked at the other Decepticon without a single word. While Demolisher might not tell Megatron anything Starscream said to him, he did not trust him enough with it anyway. The tank transformer just might change his mind and do just that. It was best to simply keep it all to himself, as he wasn't even sure why he'd even begun to have these strange flashes of memory.

"You're not going to tell me anything, are you?" Demolisher asked after a moment. Starscream merely stared back at him, his mouth closed. The other Decepticon sighed. "I should have figured. You never talk to anybody anymore, except for Megatron. Sometimes I wish you could still remember things."

Starscream had to ask, as doing so might help him find out something about the woman he'd seen. "What kind of things, Demolisher?"

His companion looked as if he were about to give him an answer but before he could Cyclonus called out to him. "Hey, Demolisher, why are you hanging around with Mr. Amnesia? It's pointless to say anything to him, now come on, we have work to do!"

"I'm coming!" Demolisher called to him. He looked back at Starscream and said. "I'm sorry, we'll have to talk about this later." before he rushed off to join the other decepticon.

Starscream watched him run off, feeling disappointed. Somehow he knew Demolisher would not bring up the subject again any time soon, which meant he wouldn't learn anything about the past he could no longer remember. At least not from anybody in the base anyway. No, if he wanted to find out anything he would have to go elsewhere for the information.

Maybe that woman would be able to give him the answers he was looking for?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Alexis went home soon after her confrontation with Optimus, heading inside and dropping her briefcase on the floor in the hallway before heading upstairs to her bedroom. There was something up there she needed to find and she wasn't going to put it off until later when she would likely forget about it.

Once in her room she headed to her closet, pulled out all the boxes from the top shelf, carefully going through one after the other, until she found what she was looking for. Once she had found the item, grabbed it up, she put all the boxes back before shutting the closet door and heading back downstairs. Upon arrival, she made herself a cup of coffee then sat down at the kitchen island to drink it. While she did so she stared at the item resting in her hand, an old feeling of loss which she'd managed to bury over the past ten years, forming in her chest.

In her hand she held the necklace she'd made from the Mars rock Starscream had given to her when she was a child. It rested in her hand, cracked yet still gleaming in the light, bringing back all those memories. How she'd befriended the aireal Decepticon, how they'd gotten close and how he'd sacrificed himself back on Cybertron to prove to Megatron that Unicron's threat was very real.

He'd died a hero.

Alexis sighed, closing her hand around the stone. If only it had remained that way but he was back now and working for Megatron once more with no memory of any of the people he'd befriended and allied himself with. It was wrong, it was unacceptable, but she could do nothing to change it, nothing at all.

 _Oh, Starscream..._ Alexis got up from her chair and went over to the window, looking up at the evening sky. Why did it have to turn out like this?

Because the world never worked the way people wanted it to. Something would always come along and destroy any normalcy. Starscream being resurrected was her's. She was just going to accept it and figure out what she was going to do about it.

But what could she do? Alexis couldn't even begin to figure out how to answer that question. She opened her hand and looked at the necklace once more. Now that she knew he was alive again, but also knew he didn't remember her, what was she going to do now?

 _What can I do? I wouldn't even be able to get near him. If I did he'd just attack me_. she sighed. _I'm helpless._

* * *

The problem was Starscream didn't even know where the woman lived so if he wanted to see her he would have to ask somebody who knew about her. He knew he couldn't ask any of the other Decepticons because, even if they did know, they would very likely tell Megatron about what he was up to and he was fairly certain that Megatron would not be the least bit happy about it. In fact he knew he wouldn't and would most likely punish him painfully and he didn't want that.

That left only one option.

"The Autobots."

There was no other option, though he knew they wouldn't help him out willingly. He was their enemy and they would not willingly give him that information as they wouldn't probably think he only wanted it for nefarious purposes. That wasn't true but they had no reason to believe otherwise.

He would just have to try to reason with them, convince them he wasn't going to hurt her. There wasn't any reason for him to harm her anyway. With that decided he left his recharge chamber and headed toward the exit, hoping he wouldn't run into any of the other Decepticons before he got there.

The last thing he needed was to explain himself.

Luckily nobody showed up to stop him and he managed to be able to leave the ship without being seen or getting in trouble. Well he thought he had anyway. What he wasn't aware of was Demolisher had spotted him and decided to follow, wanting to know just what exactly the seeker was up to.

* * *

Starscream wasn't having an easy time to finding Alexis house, seeing as he did not know where she was and whad decided against asking the Autobots after all. It was just too dangerous to try. He landed on the roof of a large building and surveyed the city below, his scanners on to enable him to be able to find her face and find her much easier.

If only he had more to go on then just a quick glimpse of her face. He stayed still for a moment, reaching back through his memory for the image of her face. When he came across it he focused on it and saved an image of her face. Lucky for him it was clear and not just a blur.

That finished he rose into the air, going into vehicle mode, and flew off over the city.

 _I will find you, I won't give up until I do._

000

* * *

Alexis had finished eating her dinner and had headed upstairs to get ready for be. All the while her mind remained on the events of the day, mostly on seeing Starscream after so many years. He'd looked different but she could still recognize the jet as the transformer she'd made friends with so many years ago.

"But he doesn't remember me," she reminded herself as she stepped out of the shower. "That's what Optimus said, he's nothing but a mindless puppet now, only doing what Megatron tells him to do." She put on her robe and went into her bedroom, sitting down in front of the mirror on her dresser and looking at her reflection, sadly. "That means if he orders Starscream to kill me, he won't even hesitate to do so..."

The young woman leaned forward, resting her face in her hands, "the Starscream I knew is never coming back. I am going to have to accept that. It's not him anymore, he's a completely different person now..."

She looked back down at the Mars stone necklace laying on the dresser where she'd placed it before taking her shower. She thought about the adventure she'd had with him on Cybertron ten years earlier, how he'd protected her from the beings that lived below the surface, how he'd thanked her for being his friend before walking away to his death...

Alexis looked away from the stone and picked up her hair brush, running it over her sort, brown hair as she tried not to think about it anymore. Why should she even dwell on this? He didn't even remember her anyway, she might as well pretend Starscream wasn't even the same person but just another enemy Decepticon she had to help stop. It would only make things easier.

 _I just wish Optimus had just told me instead of trying to keep me from knowing about it._

Just then there was a swift movement out of the corner of her eye. Alexis, startled, jerked her body sideways, toward the doors to the balcony. Nothing. But she was sure she had seen something.

The woman got up and walked toward the doors, deciding to go outside and make sure what she thought she'd seen wasn't just her imagination. Stepping onto the balcony she looked around, scanning the sky and neighborhood. She saw nothing.

Frowning she turned to head back into her bedroom, wondering if she had indeed been imagining things. however as she reached out to pull the sliding door open as shadow fell over her, startling her and making her spin around to find herself staring into the face of none other than Starscream.

Taken by surprise she let out startled gasp and fall, her back smacking against the sliding glass door.

"Don't be afraid," the Decepticon said gently. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Star-Starscream!" she exclaimed. What was he doing there? Had he come to see her? Did he remember her? No, that couldn't be it, Optimus said Megatron had wiped his mind completely clean. He had to have another reason for being there, though she couldn't even thing of a single one. "I um... ok.."

The Jet transformer stared down at her for a moment before saying. "I have some questions, and I think you might be able to answer them for me."

Alexis stared back at him, wondering what in the world he was going to ask her so all she said was. "Okay." once more.

He leaned a little closer to her, studying her face for a moment before asking. "Do I know you?"

Alexis stared at him a moment, unsure she'd heard the question right. "What do you mean?" she inquired, hoping he'd clarify.

Starscream seemed to be having a hard time explaining himself to her. "It's just..." he paused a moment to collect his thoughts. She could tell he was having a pretty hard time getting the words to come. "I have had these dreams... and you... I see you in them."

She looked startled. He was dreaming back her? How could he? His memory was completely eradicated. She tried to formulate a response to his statement in her head but she was having a hard time thinking of an answer. Instead she decided to discuss his question with another question. "What is going on in your dreams? Can you elaborate? Maybe that can help me give you an explanation."

Starscream fell silent as he tried to remember the events of his dreams in a coherent description.

"Well..." he finally began. "I'm on this strange planet and there's this moon in the sky that's not really a moon... it's like this orb with horns and there seems to be this red light coming from it. I'm looking at it and I'm talking to somebody I can't see. "

"What are you saying?" she wanted to know.

"I don't know," he replied. "I can't ever remember what I say. I say it and instantly forget..." his expression changed and he looked like he was in pain from trying to recall it. "I feel it's important but why?" he looked at her again. "I fire at the thing in the sky. I don't know why but I do and then..." he stared off into space. "It attacks me and I feel myself falling apart and that's when I see you... you're standing there with this broken look on your face and you're holding this glowing green stone in your hands as you're staring at me and... you're crying." he looked right at her once more. "Why are you crying? Why would you be crying over me? I don't know you, I can't know you."

Alexis just stared up at him, saying noting but he noticed her face had changed. "You're- you're crying! _Why_ are you crying?"

The woman put a hand to her face and pulled it away to look at the tears on her fingers. She hadn't even been aware she'd been crying. She looked up from her hand and back at is face. "Oh, Starscream..." The young woman walked toward him, locking eyes with him as she began to speak. "Those aren't just dreams, Starscream," she started. "They're memories."

"Memories?"

She nodded. 'Yes. They're memories from a long time ago, back before you... died."

Died? He remembered Alpha Q had told him when he'd appeared before him that he had brought him back to life. Starscream had not known what he'd meant back then because he had no memory of dying but now this young woman was confirming that yes, he had indeed died. How and Why he couldn't even begin to come up with an explanation but she likely could if what she was telling him now was true. If she could that meant he must have known her somehow. He just needed to wait and see what further explanation she could give him.

"Ten years ago on Cybertron you.. did something," she began. "You wanted to prove to Megatron that Unicron was a threat and he shouldn't ignore that."

"Unicron?" Starscream frowned. Megatron was trying to control Unicron. Why would the jet Decepticon be trying to prove it was a threat?

Alexis nodded and continued her story. "You died, proving him that Unicron was a threat. You died a hero, Starscream. All you had wanted from Megatron was his respect but he never gave it to you. He said you were foolish and mocked you." She stopped, studying his face. From his expression it didn't seem like she was getting through to him. He still looked just as confused as he had before. "I'm sorry Starscream, that is the only answer I can give you." Not without digging up all her pain again.

Starscream let her words sink in but they did nothing to jog is memory and left him only feeling even more frustrated. He noticed the dejected look on her face as she seemed to realize the same thing. He felt bad for her and wished he could say something to help her feel better but nothing came. All he could do was say, "I'm sorry," very quietly and turn to go.

"Starscream," the girl called to him, making him stop. He looked back at her briefly. "Please don't go. I want to help you, help you remember all te good things you've done..." she looked away and added quietly. "and me."

"I'm sorry," he said. again. Maybe he would come back again at a later time, then he could ask her more questions, but he couldn't stay. He'd been away for far too long and knew Megatron would soon be sending the other Decepticons to look for him. If he wanted to avoid having to explain himself he would have to leave now, even if doing to hurt her. "But I- I can't. I have some things to think about. I'm just-I'm just sorry."

Then, before she could say another word, he transformed and flew off into the air, leaving the young woman staring sadly after him.

 _A/N_

 _I am so sorry this took me so long to update. I think I did warn that this story will be updated at irregular times. The idea was swimming in my head for a long time due to me having a bit of trouble connecting the areas I had a clue about. Working on tying them together is not easy._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Demolishter watched the two from a safe distance away as they talked and then Starscream flew off, leaving Alexis alone. She turned and headed back into her house and, once both were out of sight, the Decepticon turned away to process what he'd just wittnessed.

So starsccream was beginning to regain his memories, he realized. and now he was communicating with Alexis, asking her questions.

If Megatron found out about this he wouldn't be happy,.No that was an understatement, he would be _furious_!

Megatron was just going to have to not learn about it, he told himself. It wouldn't end well for Starscream at all if he did. Which meant Demolisher was going to have to keep this a secret. Hopefully his visit with the young woman would be a one time deal and he wouldn't come back.

Unfortunately Demolisher knew this wouldn't be the only time, he'd be coming back to her, asking more questions and requiring answers. He just hoped if and when that happened he would do it during times when Megatron wouldn't notice his absence. Otherwise the outcome would be unpleasant for everybody.

The Decepticon sighed, Oh boy, his life was just about to get even more complicated.

 _Starscream, you'd better not get yourself into any trouble._

* * *

After Starscream had gone, Alexis returned to her bedroom, feeling disappointed with the outcome of her conversation with him. She hadn't gotten through at all, he still could not remember her.

She sighed, glancing back outside at the night sky as if expecting him to have returned and was standing outside her house again. But he wasn't. The street was completely empty of any giant machines.

She hoped he would come back soon, so she could have more time to talk with him about his dreams and the memories in them. If she had more time she might be able to break through the barrior preventing him from remembering his past, from remembering her. If only she knew what it was that was preventing them all from coming back.

The only guess she could make for that was because he'd been killed and his spark had somehow been damaged in some way, preventing him from actually being able to recall anything except in dreams. She wished she could somehow repair his spark, make all the damage go away and let him remember everything. If he did he wouldn't be working for Megatron anymore, wouldn't be trying to detroy everything. He'd be with the Autobots and humans, he would be with _her_!

Reality and wishful thinking were two different things and in reality Starscream was working for Megatron and helping him forward his selfish goals. She couldn't change that, unless Starscream decided he wanted to know more about himself, if he continued having more dreams where his memories surfaced, Maybe, given time, they would not just be dreams, they would stay in his mind and come together, filling in all the blanks in his mind.

"I just hope he comes back," she said, looking down at the necklase in her hand. "I really hope he comes back..."

* * *

Starscream met nobody once he arrived back at the base and went straight to his recharge station. He was tired and his conversation with the human woman had given him a lot to think about and the only place he could do so without being interrupted was to do it while he recharged. So once he climbed into the machine he powered himself down and entered sleep mode.

Not too long afterward he began to dream...

Starscream was moving through tunnels below the surface of a planet, what planet, he did not know. He did know that he was overwhelmed by a sense of danger and something was telling him not to look back.

"Starscream!" a voice called to him, a familiar female voice.

He against his instincts looked back, seeing a figure in a pink and wite space suit rushing toward him, she was being followed by a orange female minicon. She put out her hand and called to him, her voice revealing utter terror.

Suddenly a black void open behind her and as he watched helplessly she and her companion were sucked inside even as she screamed out his name.

He yelled for her, a name that he was unable to hear then the void opened around him and he was pulled inside. Megatron's voice echoed around him, laughing madly. Black thorny tendrils appeared around him and wrapped around his body, preventing him from moving.

Starscream woke, yelling. "NO!" then realized he was not in the dark void anymore and was free, he remained still, panting heavily.

A nigtmare, that was all it had been.

But that girl, she'd been in his dreams again. Closer and much clearer, she'd been calling for him, begging him for help. Why? What happened? Why had she called for him? Why had she been pulled into the void like that?

He grabbed his head, dimming is optics and he tried to remember, tried to recall something, anything at all.

 _There's a reason,_ he thought. _There has to be a reason!_

His optics lit back up and he raised his head realizing the girl hadn't died, that part wasn't true. He'd spoken to her the previous day. She was alive! Alive and able to give him answers! He had to go see her again, had to learn more, had to regain the memories he was missing. Only she could give that to him, help him recall it. It was important, why else would he be dreaming about it?

 _I must go see her,_ he concluded. _I must!_

But how was he going to get out of there without Megatron noticing? Maybe he wouldn't even know he was gone, that is if he didn't intend to make him and the other Decepticons do anything energon related that day.

After the previous day's failure Megatron might not send anyone out for awile. He would need to think of a new plan and they usually took some time before he formulated them. It could be a good time to head out, before Megatron came up with something...

* * *

Alexis really hadn't expected another visit from Starscream, so when he appeared outside her home she was surprised to say the least. Not that she should have been since she'd been hoping he'd return, she just hadn't guessed it would have been so soon.

"Starscream?" she exclaimed, staring at the Decepticon with wide eyes. "You're back!"

"Yes," he said. "I had to."

"You had to?" she was confused. "Why?"

"I need to talk to you," he replied, sitting down in front of her house and leaning toward her, enabling Alexis to see every detail of is scarred face and vise versa. "As I said before, I believe you are the only one that can give me answers."

She almost asked him why he had expected her to but then she realized there was no way he could ask Megatron. It was certain the Decepticon leader would be sure not to answer his questions, and would probably even take steps to prevent him from making further inquiries, same for any of the other Decepticons. As for the Autobots, she knew they would shoot first and ask questions later. Even Optimus Prime wouldn't be much use to him either, as he might think giving no details would be his form of "helping'.

So, as she had done the night before she stared him straight in the eye, well as straight as she could, given he was over twenty feet tall, and said. "I will do the best I can."

* * *

So it became a routine for the coming weeks, Starscream would sneak away from the Decepticon base and Megatron's watchful eye and come visit Alexis, asking questions and getting the answers he was looking for. At first it seemed the two were accomplishing nothing but slowly and surely his memories began to unlock themselves and he started to recall more and more, which let to even more questions and even more visits to the human woman. Alexis, to her credit, was able to answer many of them but others she couldn't give him anything solid as she had not been there to wittness the events in question. He didn't fault her for that, she couldn't have seen everything but even so he did managed to piece some of those events together. Some memories were fun and welcome, others were painful and left him feeling sad while Alexis did her best to comfort him.

The biggest issue however was returning to Megatron and the others at the end of the day, his mind full of freshly recalled details and having to put on the charade that he still didn't remember a thing and was still completely loyal to his superior even though each new memory only chipped it away more.

"You don't have to go back to him, " Alexis said after he'd brought up the issue to her. "You could leave them and-"

"And _what_?" he asked her. "The Autobots aren't going to believe me if I tried to go to them and if I run away Megatron will just send the others to come after me and bring me back to him." he looked away from her, feeling a sudden wave of sadness. "If they did find me he will just erase my memories again."

The young woman said nothing, realizing he was right. What else could he do?

"Maybe I could hide you," she suggested.

Starscream gave her a look as if she'd lost her mind. " _How_?!" he asked.

"I don't know," she admitted, looking away. "I'm sorry, Starscream, I wish I could do more for you."

"You're doing the best you can, Alexis," he told her. "I appreciate it. You've been a lot of help to me, working with me to bring back my memories and while I still have a long way to go, I'm a lot better off than I was before. I know who you are now, and how much of a good friend you were to me back then." he put out his hand to her. "I really want to thank you."

She looked at his large metal hand and reached out to touch it with her smaller, flesh covered on. "You're welcome," she said. She wanted to say more but she didn't know how to get the words out. All she could do was say what she hand and keep her hand on his, wishing Starscream didn't have to go back, didn't have to continue returning to Megatron and all that that entailed.

It was just wrong, everything about it was wrong but she could do nothing to change it. Nothing at all.

"So I guess you have to be heading back now, huh?" she said.

"I'm afraid so," he said, when he noticed the disappointment on her face he said. "I'll try to come back tomorrow, if I can get away without Megatron noticing."

She looked up at him. "Do you promise?"

The Seeker Decepticon smiled. "I promise."

* * *

Alexis, as it turned out, had a very good reason to worry as Megatron had begun to notice Starscream's suspicious absenses. At first he hadn't given it much thought because Starscream was a bit more solitary than he'd been all those years ago and he figured it wasn't such a big deal. But after he'd gone missing for longer periods it was starting to become a problem.

"Where in the world has Starscream been disappearing to?" the Decepticon leader grumbled, sitting back in his throne and trying to figure things out. "What could he possibly be doing with his time?"

Demolisher, who also happened to be in the room, said nothing. He knew exactly what the jet was up to but he was committed to not giving away his secret, even though it was starting to turn into a problem.

"Demolisher!" Megatron shouted, making the other Decepticon jump.

He turned his full attention on his superior. "Wha?!"

The decepticon leader frowned at him, obviously annoyed Demolisher hadn't been paying attention to him. "I asked you a question."

"You, you were addressing me?" he asked, feeling nervous that his leader was suddenly putting him on the spot. "I thought you were talking to yourself."

"No I was _not_ talking to myself," he growled at him. "If I _wanted_ to talk to myself I'd make sure I was alone when I was doing it."

"Ooh, Ummm," he fumbled. "I'm sorry, sir." he paused a moment. "Umm what did you ask me again?"

"I asked you if you knew where Starscream was disappearing to."

"Wh-why would _I_ know that, sir?" Demolisher asked him. "I mean, I don't make it my business to make what he does a priority for-"

"Well, you _should_!"

"Why?"

" _Because_!" Megatron snapped, getting up off his throne. He stared the smaller Decepticon down, making him back up a step. "You know as well as I do that if he's given enough space he might start recalling things and thinking for himself."

Demolisher didn't know what to say about that. Megatron really was worried Starscream would remember his past? That was surprising.

 _I guess he is worried he didn't succeed in wiping his mind completely clean after all..._

"I don't think that will happen, Megatron," he stated, though his tone said he also didn't believe his statement. "Aren't those kinds of things permanent?"

"How should I know?" his superior snapped.

"Eh, what?"

"Never mind." Megatron fell silent but he was eyeing Demolisher suspiciously now. "You _know_ something, don't you?" he finally said after a moment.

"What? Me?" Demolisher stared at him in shock. "Why would I know anything?"

"I don't know," he replied, giving him a look. "You tell me."

"I- I umm..." he backed up a little, unable to come up with an answer. What could he say? Megatron wouldn't believe him anyway. "I.. I don't know what-"

"Don't lie to me!" Megatron crossed the room and grabbed Demolisher by the throat, lifting him off the floor. "You know what he's been up to. I can tell by the way you're acting, now why don't you just stop all this blustering and tell me the _truth_?!"

Given Demolisher's current situation and the fact he knew how dangerous Megatron could be when he was mad he didn't have a choice. "He's been heading to earth," he began.

Megatron's expression changed from anger to that of surprise. "What? Why?"

 _I'm sorry, Starscream._ "He's been visiting that human girl."

"What human girl?"

"That one he was friends with be-before," he replied. "That one they called Alexis."

"Why?"

"I-I don't know," he replied, just wanting Megatron to let go of him. He didn't like being this close to the decepticon leader. "Maybe, maybe he remembers her?"

"Hmmmm..." Megatron let this sink in for a moment, allowing himself time to process the information and decide what he was going to do with it. "Very well then."

He release is grip on Demolisher and let him drop unceremoniously to the floor. "Go get me Cyclonus," he told him. "I have a job for him,"

 _Oh no._ Things were about to go from bad to worse. The smaller Decepticon slowly got to his feet. "What, what are you going to do?"

Megatron turned to him, a smile on his face that sent a cold wave of fear through him. "I need him to take a trip to earth," he told him. "There is somebody there I want him to pay a visit to..."

 _A/N_

 _If it feels like I'm rushing things, I'm sorry. I don't want the story to drag on with unnecessary things and my idea didn't consist of long drug out scenerios._


End file.
